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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Soldier Field Debut

Last night I had a once in a lifetime experience, my first run onto Soldier Field! I got an email through my gym recently to join Nike Training Club on Soldier Field for a free workout with RSVP. I send it to some girlfriends and three of us signed up. One didn't make it due to work, so two of us bundled up (it's in the 30s here in Chicago) and headed down to Soldier Field last night. We arrived promptly at 6:10 for the 6:15 start and were given a free drifit Nike Training t-shirt (sorry, I forgot to take a pic!)

The problem was, that the email lied. The event didn't start until 7, which of course we didn't know. After 45 minutes of waiting in the cold, my friend gave up. She left. I decided that since I was there, I may as well stay...I figured once we started working out, it wouldn't really matter that I was there alone and I was right. I am so glad I stayed!

Promptly at 7pm, we were lead to the field. There was even a fog machine on while we ran through the gate onto the field, along with approximately 100+ other women.

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See the Nike sign far up in the corner? That's where we sat on Sunday night. Hard to believe just days later I was actually on the field!

Two professional Nike trainers came out on stage. It was a bit disorganized and hard to hear, but our 30 minute workout got underway. The workout consisted of a lot of basic moves: jumping jacks, running in place, lunges, etc. I took a brief pause for a picture.

Following the workout, Earl Bennett, a Bears' wide receiver, came on stage to chat a bit.

After that, we headed into the United Club portion of the stadium (so nice), which had appetizers (tomato soup and grilled cheese shooters, spinach and goat cheese tart and chicken sate sandwiches) and drinks before a Nike Apparel Fashion Show..﻿

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..which happened to be co-hosted by Kristin Cavallari. She looks amazing for having a 3 month old son; although I've always thought her to be quite pretty.

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Earl Bennett ending up sitting in the front row, right ahead of me, for the show!

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The show ended promptly at 9pm. There wasn't really a chance for a meet and greet, so I grabbed a dessert and started on my trek back to our apartment.﻿

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While running to the train (let me be honest, the workout was not that intense, plus it was freezing out and late, so I literally ran to the train), I looked out to see this beautiful view of the city. I really do love this town. Despite having down this event by myself, I left with a sense of almost pride, that I felt comfortable enough to go out and do something on my own. Sure it would have been fun to have some girlfriends there with me, but it was nice to do something by myself that wasn't just shopping or hanging around the apartment. Every once in a while, it's important to get that little burst of extra freedom.